Raikkonen has 'upmost confidence and support' at Ferrari

Marco Mattiacci is convinced Kimi Raikkonen is the driver Ferrari "needs" despite his poor form which has seen him outperformed by team-mate Fernando Alonso at every race in 2014.

Raikkonen's form is a continuing source of speculation and analysis, with his 11th-place finish at the German Grand Prix leaving him 78 points behind Alonso at the half-way stage of the season. When it was put to Ferrari team principal Mattiacci that Raikkonen is yet to beat Alonso in ten races this year he insisted that is not how he is looking at it.

"You are talking about soccer, ten to zero," Mattiacci said. "This is not Formula One. I disagree totally with your analysis. 10-0 could be tennis, soccer, but not Formula One. I've never seen this scoreline [in F1]. Kimi is the driver that we need. We need to make more points, but he is the driver that we need."

Mattiacci believes Raikkonen is the only man who can turn his season around but insists no-one at Ferrari doubts the Finn's importance to the team.

"I think he knows what he can do better. It's not up to me; he's a professional driver who won a world championship with Ferrari. He's motivated and he knows his area of improvement. He can see Fernando ahead and that visibly it's a tough moment but we are all together in this. He has the upmost confidence and support from Ferrari."